Canine Commandos.
One Teacher's Vision & Tenacity Empowers Students To Save Shelter dogs.
CANINE COMMANDOS IS A PROGRAM for gifted students at Indialantic Elementary and 20 other participating schools. This unique program works with the South Animal Care Center in Melbourne; Central Brevard Humane Society in Cocoa and SPCA of Brevard in Titusville to train homeless dogs. Its purpose is to improve the behavior of shelter dogs in order to make them more adoptable. Virginia Hamilton, the vision-
ary behind the program, has been teaching gifted students for over 13 years. When she began her career, community service of some kind was a requirement. She did what most teachers were doing, including canned food drives and working with the homeless. But she longed for something out of the ordinary that would challenge both her and her students. At home one night watching television, she became inspired during a segment on the Animal Planet Channel. An obedi- ence trainer was commenting on the fact that many dogs are overlooked for adoption due to a lack of train- ing. And that by spending just a few minutes working with them every day, we could improve their behav- iors enough to make them more adoptable. “I knew right then that this was something my students could benefit from in terms of devel- oping values, while at the same time, helping shelter animals in need of homes. I started with just my school, twice a month and knew immediately that we were mak- ing a difference for not only the dogs, but the students as well” said Virginia. HOW DOES THE PROGRAM WORK? Students are taught how to train using the basic obedience
–by Heather Schulman
schools rotate daily). The card indicates which command(s) have been mastered and which still needs work. The card also tells the public which dogs are great with kids. When the dog is adopted, the adopter checks YES or NO to the question: •Was the fact that this dog had gone through obedience
training a factor in your decision to adopt him/her? Then the kids figure out the per-
centage which shows the success of the program. To date, Canine Commandos has trained more than 7,100 dogs. So far, the program has been
Ben with Meghan and Nina, Canine Commandos.
awarded $35,000 in grants and spon- sorships. Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey is heavily promoting Canine Commandos with a county-wide fundraiser in September called Canine Commando Carnival. Certified trainers maintain the safety and integrity of the program. It’s truly a win-win for both animals and stu- dents as the animals receive a much benefitted need with human touch and love. Students reflect on experi- ences through activities like scrap- booking and video productions. Canine Commandos is the only community service project of its kind. Virginia Hamilton and her stu- dent trainers have been featured on Good Morning America, and received awards from Disney, Office Depot’s Teachers Change Lives,
Eckerd’s Children’s Hero of the Year, Women in the Pet Industry Network and Points Of Light Recognition. Although students become attached to the dogs, they leave
commands: Watch Me, Sit, Down, Stay, and Come. Once the basic commands are taught, the Commandos go into the shelter to clicker train the dogs. During clicker training, the dogs are in their runs and the Commandos stand in front of the dogs’ doors. When the dogs are quiet and not jumping at their cage doors, the Commandos click and give them a treat. Eventually, the shelter becomes quieter and the dogs become less hyper and more desir- able for adoption. The students are now doing some agility train- ing and have begun to work on a socialization process for cats. To track the success of the program, Canine Commandos
uses comment cards. The cards are attached to the dogs’ runs which flags the schools as to which dog needs training (the
60 THE NEW BARKER
knowing that they may have saved a dog’s life. It is especially rewarding when a dog is selected for adoption during the train- ing. Every year, families and chaperones of students have adopted many dogs after witnessing the results of the kids’ efforts. Virginia Hamilton invites the public to visit and watch the
dogs in training (often resulting in an adoption). The Commandos’ goal is to get these dogs adopted into good homes and spread the word to other schools so they can join in the fun.
This program is too good to halt, for both animals and kids. Down to $2000 (which will get them through two months) Canine Commandos is in desperate need of funding to pay for the use of school buses and dog trainers. To learn more visit:
www.CanineCommandos.com. To find out about implementing a Canine Commandos program in your school, contact Virginia at
Hamilton.Virginia@
Brevardschools.org or via phone: 321.723.2811.
www.TheNewBarker.com U
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